OCTOBER 15, 1915 



857 



ppiiiigs, and ])ut them between the boards 

 and fasten them well with spacing-staples. 

 Two pieces of latli on each side will hold 

 the boards in place. Fasten the bottom 

 boards to the handles with some hay-wire; 

 put on a narrow piece for a dashboard, and 



the spring- wlieelbarrow is complete. I 

 was less than half a day making it, and 

 1 can change it back to a wheel hoe in less 

 than five minutes. Mine weighs complete 

 only 22 lbs. 



Lee Valley, Ont., Can. 



HOME -MARKET PROTECTION 



BY W. I. LIVELY 



Of all the problems which confront the 

 beekeeper, that of marketing his crop is 

 one of the most trying and difficult. Honey 

 is not the staple article of food that it 

 should be; but the campaigns to educate 

 people to its value as a food are doing 

 much to increase the consumption ; and 

 more intelligent methods of marketing 

 would greatly relieve the situation. Bee- 

 keepers generally pay too little attention to 

 their local markets. There is too much of 

 a lendencj- to relj' upon the wholesale busi- 

 ness to plat'e the crop before the consumer. 

 It does it after a fashion, but at a loss to 

 the producer and a higher cost to the con- 

 sumer, both of which militate against the 

 business of beekeeping. 



Some time ago, through convereations 

 with traveling salesmen, I learned that 

 Arizona honey was selling in California, 

 and California honey in Arizona, both at 

 prices which would spell bankruptcy to the 

 producer if they continued. Practically, the 

 beekeeper was paying freight and middle- 

 man's profits for the privilege of selling his 

 product in a neighboring state. The same 

 thing is being done constantly all over the 

 country. The shorter the distance and the 

 fewer the middlemen between the producer 

 and the consumer, the greater the profits to 

 the producer, and the smaller the cost to 

 the consumer. 



Now, that does not mean to sell at any 

 old starvation price in order to unload your 

 crop at home. Above all, protect your 

 home market and protect your fellow bee- 

 keeper. During the seasons of 1912 and 

 1013 I worked up a nice market in a city 

 some distance from ray home. In the fall 

 of 1914 the war and other causes depressed 

 the shipping market. Other beekeepers, 

 some of whom I knew, and who are fine, 

 well-meaning fellows, followed my foot- 

 steps and flooded the city with their brands 

 at a price with which T could not afford to 

 compete. The result was that I lost prac- 

 tically all my trade there. I found the 

 method of selling wa.s something like the 

 following: Mr. A. took some samples to 

 a merchant and offered honey for sale. The 



merchant asked his price and he named it. 

 The merchant informed him that he could 

 buy fi'om Mr. B. at a lower figure, and 

 generally this was the case, though not 

 always. Mr. A. then offered to sell a trifle 

 under Mr. B., and closed a sale. Mr. C. 

 then undersold both of them, and, like the 

 story of the little fleas, this continued " ad 

 infinHum " until the price reached a level 

 below the cost of production. I found men 

 selling honey in three, five, and ten pound 

 ]iackages at practically the same j^rice they 

 were getting for it in sixty-pound cans. 

 Others were disposing of from five to ten 

 gallons at the same price for which it was 

 being shipped in carload lots. It is passing- 

 strange that men with intelligence enough 

 to raise bees and harvest a crop of honey 

 should show such a lack of common sense 

 in disposing of it. 



This season, with the outside market 

 ''shot to pieces," and times not up to nor- 

 mal, I marketed my entire crop, amounting 

 to nearly seventeen thousand pounds, at a 

 reasonable figure, and not a pound of it 

 went outside my home state. I have orders 

 on file now which will take probably half 

 my coming crop. Of course it takes time, 

 patience, hard work, and good judgTaent; 

 but it can be done by others as well as 

 m.yself. I set my price and sell at my 

 price, or do not sell at all. I am not un- 

 reasonable. I ask only a fair price; and 

 when I cannot get a price for my crop 

 which pays me for my time and labor spent 

 in I'aising it I shall quit the business. 



Now lastly, and most important of all, if 

 you wish to make a success of home mar- 

 keting, protect your home merchant. In the 

 city which I mentioned above, the mer- 

 chant complained that their sales were very 

 slow, and honey was a drug on the market. 

 1 soon found out the reason. The beemen 

 were peddling their wares from house to 

 house, and selling at the very same price 

 that they were selling to the merchants. 

 Their wholesale and retail prices were iden- 

 tical. When the merchant finds out the true 

 state of atjfairs, as he is sure to do in a short 

 time, his only recourse is to put his buying 



